Multiple-belt seat harness with common anchoring system for the belts



Feb. 6, 1968 M. G. CURRAN MULTIPLE-BELT SEAT HARNESS WITH COMMON ANCHORING SYSTEM FOR THE BELTS Filed Nov. 1, 1966 v IVNVENTOR.

MICHAEL 6. Cuee/w BY M34404} I ATTQ EMEYS.

United States Patent Office 3,367,715 Patented Feb. 6, 1968 3,367,715 MULTIPLE-BELT SEAT HARNESS WITH COMMON ANCHORING SYSTEM FOR THE BELTS Michael G. Curran, 11608 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44102 Filed Nov. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 591,173 16 Claims. (Cl. 297385) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a multiple-belt seat harness for vehicular use, (1) an anchor for said harness aifixed to the vehicle body to the rear of the wearer; (2) right and left shoulder belts proceeding downwardly from a common reference zone above the vehicle seat, proceeding rearwardly to said anchor, proceeding upwardly behind the vehicle seat in two substantially parallel paths extending from said anchor to approximately the level of the wearers shoulders, and terminating in said reference zone in end portions depending from the wearers shoulders; and (3) means in said reference Zone for connecting said belts to each other, said anchor taking the form of a single assembly embodying primary mounting means, a lower clamping member, an upper clamping member, and a throat between them traversed in opposite directions by intermediate portions of said belts.

This invention relates to a multiple-belt safety harness for vehicular use requiring only a single anchor despite the fact that the harness as a whole includes a plurality of shoulder belts that to a large degree follow widely spaced and substantially parallel paths.

In safety harnesses of types heretofore used, shoulder belts, when present, have commonly been designed to cross in the vicinity of the small of the back. A typical example is the safety harness of US. Patent 2,576,867, a harness that makes use of shoulder straps which broadly speaking parallel each other where they flank the wearers chest but which cross in an X-shaped figure at the wearers back. This sort of arrangement, to be found also in prior and subsequent patents, comonly calls for the use of a plurality of laterally spaced anchors, thereby appreciably increasing the cost of the installation as a whole.

Normally, provision is also made for a waist belt, usually one that is independent of the shoulder belts, of a type calling for anchors of its own, thus further increasing the overall cost.

The present invention has for its principal object to provide a safety harness characterized by substantially parallel shoulder belts that are permanently afiixed, preferably by means of a single anchor assembly, to the basic structure of the vehicle, which may be an automobile, airplane or the like. The invention further contemplates the utilization of an anchor assembly of a type that can at the same time accept and accommodate a waist belt, assuming such to be present, thus reducing the total number of anchor assemblies from four to one. Insofar as the invention is concerned, the waist belt is regarded as an optional feature that it is possible to omit or include and, in some instances, to integrate into the harness.

Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the description which follows and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic showing of the safety harness of the present invention as seen in side elevation;

FIGURE 2 is a like rear elevation;

FIGURE 3 is a central vertical section through the anchor assembly on line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an end elevation of the anchor assembly as seen from line 4-4 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is an exploded view showing the component parts making up the anchor assembly.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the safety harness as a whole is indicated at 1. Among other things, it consists of left shoulder belt 2, right shoulder belt 3, one or more transverse straps 4, and suitable means 5 for fastening such strap or straps to belts 2 and 3. In the usual case, only one such strap is used; if so, it may be in a position higher or lower than that illustrated, wherein it appears at the top of the backrest 6 associated with seat 7. The latter is supported from floor 8 by means of conventional mounting brackets that do not appear in FIGURES and 2. Anchor assembly 9 is indicated only generally in each of FIGURES 1 and 2 but is shown in detail in FIGURES 3 and 4. Shoulder belts 2 and 3 are passed endwise through anchor assembly 9, approaching it from opposite directions.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, shoulder belts 2 and 3 interconnect at waist level. To that end, each has a depending portion (2a, 3a) terminating well below the level of the wearers shoulders in the buckle 10 employed in effecting the interconnection: see FIGURE 1. Comparison with FIGURE 2 will reveal that left shoulder belt 2 enters the left-hand end of the anchor assembly to the rear of backrest 6 and seat 7, just above the base of the latter. It re-appears at the righthand end of the anchor assembly, whence portion 2b of left shoulder belt 2 extends to and through the crevice between the top of seat 7 and the bottom of backrest 6. On the forward side of backrest 6, the portion of left shoulder belt 2 designated 2c emerges as shown in FIGURE 1. Conventionally located at or in proximity to hip level, buckle 10 thus can detachably connect emergent portion 2c of left shoulder belt 2 and depending end portion 3a of right shoulder belt 3.

Similarly, right shoulder belt 3 enters anchor assembly 9 at the l-atters right-hand end, seen as in FIGURES 2 and 4, and re-appears at its left-hand end. For convenience, such re-appearing portion is designated 3b. After proceeding through the crevice between backrest 6 and seat 7, right shoulder belt 3 makes a second re-appearance on the wearers left side in and by an emergent portion (not shown) corresponding to portion 20 of shoulder belt 2. By means of a buckle similar to buckle 10, such emergent portion is coupled to the end of depending portion 3a of left shoulder belt 3.

Apart from what has already been said, each of the two shoulder belts may be treated, for convenience in describing and claiming the safety harness, as having its origin in a common reference Zone in one of two buckles 10; proceeding downward to and through the crevice between the backrest and the seat; passing into and out of the anchor assembly, proceeding laterally in the meanwhile; ascending behind backrest 6 to a level that approximates the level of the wearers shoulder; and finally, after initiating a descending course at the latter level, terminating at the lower end of that one of the two depending portions to which the other buckle is usually attached. In a sense, each of the two shoulder belts can be considered as crossing the other, not, however, in a typical X-shaped pattern in which the point of crossing is behind the small of the wearers back but at the level of anchor assembly 9. In consequence, corresponding ends of each of the two shoulder belts can be coupled to the opposite end of the other.

If, as is likely to be considered preferable, a separate lap belt 11 is employed along with shoulder belts 2 and 3, such lap belt may conveniently take the form of a loop having its beginning at the near end of buckle 13 (FIGURE 1), proceeding first laterally and then downwardly to the near end of anchor assembly 9, i e-appearing at the remote end thereof, and then proceeding first upwardly and then laterally to the remote end of buckle 13. In this case, three layers of belting rather than two will pass through anchor assembly 9. The lowermost will usually be attributable to the lap belt and the other two to shoulder belts 2 and 3. As will appear hereinafter, when the anchor assembly of the present invention is used this presents no particular problem.

It is not strictly necessary, however, that the lap belt should in every case describe a full 360 loop around and behind the wearer; optionally, it may consist of two oppositely directed segments extending laterally and rearwardly from buckle 13 to the zone indicated generally at 12 in FIGURE 1, wherein each of the two belt segments may be interwoven, and thus inseparably associated, with the adjacent ascending or hip-level portion of one of the two shoulder belts. Where this type of construction is employed, each of the two shoulder belts may be regarded as having three ends, two of which (seen in FIGURE 1) give the hip-level portion of the harness a definitely branched or Y-shaped appearance. It will be evident that either one of the two branches may be coupled to buckle 13; by the same token, either one may be coupled to buckle 10.

Although the anchor assembly designated 9 in FIG- URES l and 2 may take other forms, the preferred form is one wherein a strong clamping action can be utilized to keep the several belts in the desired relation to the anchor assembly and to each other. FIGURES 3 to 5 deal with the manner of use and construction of a particularly efiicient assembly of this type. To provide the clamping action, such assembly includes upper and lower clamping members, a supporting plate therefor and means for holding them together, along with primary mounting means for holding the assembly in place on the floor of the vehicle. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, such anchor assembly is designed and constructed in such a way as to permit it to swivel, to a degree, about a vertical pivot; however, if desired, it may be non-rotatably mounted on the vehicle floor.

The supporting plate referred to above may advantageously take the simple form shown in FIGURE 5, wherein such plate is designated 15. Below it is a massive spacer 16 formed after the fashion of a washer, a downwardly extending stud or bolt 17 the upper end of which is headed as at 17a, and one or more nuts 18. In the form shown, bolt 17 is threaded throughout the lower portion thereof; accordingly, merely turning nut 18 will serve to move it into or out of engagement with floor 8.

Above the threaded lower portion of bolt 17 is an unthreaded upper portion the length of which is not materially less than the altitude or height of spacer 16. Immediately above the unthreaded portion is head 17a, which is so shaped and sized as to fit with adequate clearance in a frusto-conical opening 19 located at the geometrical center of supporting plate 15. This combination of features provides and promotes the swivelling action referred to above as one of the features of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Supporting plate is provided at its corners with four holes 20 through which threaded bolts 21 can extend upward as indicated in FIGURES 3 and 4. Nuts 22 may therefore be applied to and removed from bolts 21 by manipulation from above, conveniently by means of a socket wrench or the like. The upper and lower clamping members to which reference has already been made are themselves designed to be clamped in place between supporting plate 15 and nuts 22 on bolts 21. To this end, each of the two clamping members is equipped with corner holes similar to and overlying the corner holes 20 in supporting plate 15.

Lower clamping plate 23 may be seen in perpective toward the center of FIGURE 5. Basically, it may be considered to consist of two laterally disposed flange-like por- 4 tions 23a and 23b in what is essentially a common plane and an intermediate portion of some sort spanning the space between them. The latter may take a variety of forms but in the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings comprises a bridging portion including a short riser 24, a long riser 25 and an inclined portion 26 intervening between and connecting them. The relative heights of the two risers and the angle of inclination of intermediate portion 26 may best be seen in FIGURE 3.

Preferably, these parts are so arranged that intermediate portion 26 slants toward seat 7; i.e., forwardly and downwardly between flange-like portions 23a and 23!).

Shoulder belts 2 and 3 and the lap belt, if present, do not invariably require this precise type of construction, but it is usually helpful to angle intermediate portion 26 in the manner just explained. The reason resides in the fact that when entering and leaving the assembly, a partial twist is introduced into the belts (see FIGURE 2). The twisting effect is mitigated somewhat by angling intermediate portion 26 of lower clamping member 23 in sub stantially the manner described.

At the two opposite ends of intermediate portion 26, lower clamping member 23 is provided with oppositely angled wings 26a and 26b. The latter assist in effecting the change of direction that is required as the belts enter and leave the anchor assembly. In general, wings 26a and 2612 will make equal angles of from 30 to 60 degrees to the horizontal. Preferably, but not necessarily, Wings 260 and 2612 are formed integrally with intermediate portion 25 and flange-like portions 23a and 23b.

Upper clamping member 28 is similarly constructed. As is apparent from FIGURE 5, it includes laterally disposed flange-like portions 28a and 28b that are designed to overlie flange-like portions 23a and 23b of lower clamping member 23. The portion that bridges the span between portions 26a and 26b consists of a short riser 29, a long riser 30 and an intermediate portion 31. These correspond respectively to risers 24 and 25 and intermediate portion 26 of lower clamping member 23. However, the span or side-toside length of intermediate portion 31 is greater than that of intermediate portion 26. If this were not so, it would not be possible to nest the upper and lower clamping members with corresponding risers in engagement as shown in FIGURE 3.

Upper clamping member 28, much like lower clamping member 23, is provided at its ends with angled wings 31a and 31b that are preferably formed integrally with intermediate portion 31. As before, the angles with the horizontal made by wings 31a and 31b are preferably equal and usually in the range between 30 and 60 degrees. It is important that in the two clamping members corresponding angles should measure the same. If they are not the same, much of the clamping effect is likely to be sacrificed.

Upper clamping member 28 differs from lower clamping member 23 in an important respect; namely, the inclusion in the former of integral wall portions 32, 33, 34 and 35 (see FIGURES 4 and 5). Although not necessarily so formed as to depend as shown from upper clamping member 28, wall portions of this type are desirable to the end that throat 36 (FIGURE 3) may be closed not only throughout the length of its top and bottom but along its sides as well. The advantage of closing throat 36 along its sides resides in the fact that lateral twisting of the portions of the belts passing therethrough is obviated by the guiding action provided by depending wall portions 32, 33, 34 and 35.

It will be noted that wall portions 32 to 35 cannot and do not telescope with lower clamping member 23 in quite the same manner as that in which risers 29 and 30 telescope with risers 24 and 25. There is, however, either a close approach to contact or actual physical contact between walls 32 to 35 and the lateral edges of wings 26a and 26b of lower clamping member 23. A near approach to actual contact is all that is necessary to provide the desired guiding action and thereby prevent lateral angling of the belts where they pass through the anchor assembly.

It is evident that wings 26a and 26b on one hand and wings 31a and 31b on the other may be omitted entirely, although at the expense of a decrease in. such guiding action. Similarly, risers 24 and 25 on one hand and risers 29 and 30 on the other may be shortened and perhaps eliminated. In the latter case, the advantage that is derived from the forward angling of intermediate portions 26 and 31 will of course be lost. Nevertheless, in some circumstances cost considerations may dictate a less refined structure provided that it still serves the ultimate function of the anchor assembly; i.e., the literal clamping in place of those portions of seat belts 2 and 3 and the lap belt (if any) that intervene between portions 26 and 31 of the lower and upper clamping members, respectively.

It will be apparent that the anchor assembly of FIG- URES 3 to 5 may be used, if desired, with nothing more than a conventional seat belt of the type worn usually at or close to hip level. It will also be apparent from what has been stated above that such a seat belt may be used in conjunction with shoulder belts such as those hereinabove referred to as left shoulder belt 2 and right shoulder belt 3. In any event, the upper and lower clamping members should be so proportioned that at least three layers of webbing may intervene between the lower clamping member and the upper clamping member.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by summarization in appended claims, all features of patentable novelty residing in the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A multiple belt seat harness for vehicular use including (a) a single anchor for said harness afiixed to the vehicle to the rear of the wearer; (b) right and left shoulder belts:

( 1) proceeding downwardly from a common reference zone located above the vehicle seat,

(2) proceeding rearwardly to said single anchor,

(3) proceeding upwardly behind the vehicle seat in two substantially parallel paths extending from said single anchor to approximately the level of the wearers shoulders,

(4) terminating in said reference zone in end portions depending from the wearers shoulders;

and (c) means in said reference zone for connecting said belts to each other.

2. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 1 wherein the anchor takes the form of a single assembly embodying primary mounting means for the assembly as a whole, a lower clamping member, an upper clamping member, and a throat between them that is traversed in opposite direction by intermediate portions of said belts.

3. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 2 wherein each of the clamping members consists of two flange-like mounting portions in substantially the same plane that are separated from each other by a third portion spanning the space between them.

4. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 2 wherein each of the clamping members consists of two flange-like mounting portions in substantially the same plane separated from each other by an inclined portion spanning the space between them.

5. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 2 wherein each of the clamping members consists of a pair of mounting flanges in essentially the same plane separated from each other by a forwardly angled portion bridging the space between them.

6. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 2 wherein the upper clamping member is provided at its opposite ends with direction-changing portions for guiding said belts.

7. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 2 wherein both upper and lower clamping members are provided at their opposite ends with direction-changing portions for guiding said belts.

8. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 2 wherein the anchor assembly includes an upper clamping member, a lower clamping member, and a rectangular throat between them that is closed above, below and along both sides but traversed between its ends by oppositely directed portions of said belts.

9. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 8 wherein the means closing the sides of the throat include parts formed integrally with the upper clamping member.

10. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 9 wherein said parts take the form of side walls depending from the upper clamping member.

11. A multiple-belt seat harness for vehicular use including (a) clamping means for anchoring said harness to the vehicle to the rear of the wearer; (b) first and second shoulder belts:

(1) proceeding downwardly from a common reference zone located above the vehicle seat,

(2) proceeding rearwardly to said single anchor,

(3) proceeding upwardly behind the vehicle seat in two substantially parallel paths extending from said clamping means to approximately the level of the wearers shoulders,

( 4) terminating in said reference zone in ends depending from the wearers shoulders; and (c) means in said reference zone for interconnecting said belts by coupling the depending end of each to the opposite end of the other.

12. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 11 wherein the clamping means take the form of a single assembly comprising primary mounting means for the assembly as a whole, a lower clamping member, an upper clamping member cooperating therewith, and, associated with said clamping members, means forming a throat for accommodating the belting.

13. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 12 wherein each of the two clamping members consists of two like mounting flanges in what is essentially the same plane that are separated from each other by a portion which spans the space between them.

14. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 13 wherein each clamping member consists of spaced mounting flanges connected to each other by an inclined portion that spans the space between them.

15. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 13 wherein the anchor is characterized by a rectangular throat that is closed above, below and along both sides but open at its ends.

16. A multiple-belt seat harness according to claim 15 wherein said rectangular throat is formed in part by integral wall portions that depend from the upper clamping member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,590,415 3/1952 Jenne 248-66 2,833,555 5/1958 Zotkewicz 297389 3,298,739 1/1967 Scruggs 297389 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 

